The New Year is just getting underway.

As I write so my ears are drawn to the rush of traffic outside - even amongst the restrictions that the pandemic imposes, life goes on. And so it must.

Singers who study within The Voice School will be aware that the wheels that drive all lessons, classes, events, and mentoring groups are about to start rolling. I'm advising that each should take the broader view and imagine not just the beginning of their year's journey, but to envisage where they might wish to arrive at the end of it.

Everyone agrees that 2020 was the strangest of years. Life - interrupted. Yet, within The Voice School, once we had regrouped and restructured - put a virtual plan in place for community and connection with plenty of singing to boot - it was one of the busiest of my 35+ years teaching career. 

A steep learning curve as to how to overcome problems,  implementing, and using technology to the advantage of all the singers. What an endeavour ... But, 2020 culminated...

This year, in the wake of COVID-19 and the uncertainty that it has created for singers getting together, I decided to make 2020 my year of delivering my regular workshop courses online. 

Residential weekends at Dartington Hall, form part of my teaching year structure. Situated near Totnes in South Devon, the Dartington Hall ethos provides the perfect vibe for such valuable learning exchanges to happen. The workshop weekends run in March (Love Your Voice) for solo singers, and October (Sing Joyfully) for ensemble singers.

Thanks to the pandemic, I’ve been on a learning curve of my own since March, reconfiguring my music studio, learning more about the tech requirements for teaching, and leading online. Little did I know how eerily on-point my post of January this year, where I welcomed applications for my ‘Love Your Voice’ course at Dartington Hall. This is how I opened the post:

“Teaching is more than imparting knowledge, it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing f...

I’ve been teaching online for some time now, and I really enjoy it. It started out of necessity, because I had moved away - relocated - just as a parent had reached out asking me to mentor his son. To avoid disappointment and to see if I could help despite the 165 miles distance between us, I began crafting my teaching business to include delivering lessons and mentoring more online. 

That was back in 2012. Technology has moved on a lot since then - of course. If you can handle the thought processes, be creatively curious about how to overcome problems, or embrace new tech solutions, then it’s an exciting way to deliver to students and groups who would normally be separated by geography.

Coronavirus brought a whole new meaning to separation and isolation, with many singers, necessarily cut off from their normal routine - lessons, rehearsals,  ensembles, choirs, and performances. All halted.

Technology and the internet, with all its variety and wonder, has been a saviour; the online ...